Kings and Kingdoms:
Kings and Kingdoms – Episode I of III
“ELESS” – “LOOCKEN” – “A BETTER PLACE”
Created By: Justin R. Durban
Tagline:
“A grain of sand on an island Kingdom.”
Logline:
On a distant island world, a brutal act shatters the ancient balance between kingdoms and an alien race. As war spreads, a boy raised in the quiet lands begins to question the righteousness of his king. Trained to fight, he must choose between loyalty and conscience when a path of vengeance threatens to destroy all of mankind.
The Story of Kings and Kingdoms:
A newborn is taken from one land and raised in another. He grows up with simple roots, far from the war that shaped his origin. But when the time comes to join the fight against a ruthless and feared race, fate pulls him toward another path… one of love, friendship, and quiet discovery. Along that road, he faces painful truths and tests that shape his identity. His journey eventually leads him to confront the very kingdom that raised him… and the world he thought he understood begins to unravel.
In the end, we witness a catastrophic turning point… one that will determine if this world lives on or disappears into myth.
How it Started:
Kings and Kingdoms began in 2005 when I wrote a fantasy-style musical piece called (K&K Suite.mp3). I wanted to capture the full emotional range of the genre in a single composition. From there, I created a one-sheet poster (link) to promote the music, which led to early sketches and character designs. The story began to unfold visually, and over time I built hundreds of illustrations and a full album around the project.
The first chapter of the trilogy is called Eless and the ending epic saga to my “Durbania” 11 film series.
K&K Concept Art:
Most of these images started out as sketches, doodles, side notes and descriptive scenes from years ago. With the help of AI, I’m able to finally see it come to life. Once the sketch is scanned, I’ll dump it into my ai software, and it will render out a version. At that point, I’ll give it a series of details and direction and it’ll spit out another. And another… and sometimes another. Once I’m happy, I may add additional elements on top with photoshop, and then I’ll dump it into the ai again. At some point when I’m good, I’ll move on to the next. and to the next. Looking forward to rolling the camera and calling “action.” – Justin
